Tibetan / Vajrayana

Vajrayana Buddhism is most closely associated with Tibet and can be characterized by the figure of the siddha, the master whose spiritual realization is so profound that he or she has power over the phenomenal world, and in whom the profundity and vastness of absolute truth is fully and completely manifested. Many of our most well-known authors come from this tradition of Tibetan Buddhism .

[Note: The tags for the various schools are not definitive as many books span multiple traditions, etc. They are meant to use as a starting point for exploring this collection.]

Buddhist Ethics Essays in Honor of Damien Keown

A thought-provoking collection of essays on Buddhist ethics by some of the leading thinkers in the field. The reader is provided with engaging explorations of central issues in Buddhist ethics, insightful analyses of the ways Buddhist ethical principles are… Read More

A Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices

Blending contemporary and traditional perspectives, this groundbreaking work offers guidance on the profound foundational practices of the Great Perfection. It contains classic commentaries by the renowned Tibetan masters Jigme Lingpa and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, alongside a lively contemporary discussion… Read More

In this adventure story, two kids are beamed aboard an alien spacecraft. Amy and Gully manage to outwit their captors—only to realize that they may have made things worse. But appearances prove deceptive. Amy and Gully learn about the… Read More

As Taught in Tsong-kha-pa's Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path

Readers are hard-pressed to find books that can help them understand the central concept in Mahayana Buddhism—the idea that ultimate reality is emptiness. In clear language, Introduction to Emptiness explains that emptiness is not a mystical sort of nothingness,… Read More

Vasubandhu's Summary of the Five Heaps with Commentary by Sthiramati

The Inner Science of Buddhist Practice contains translations of texts by two historically important Indian Buddhist scholars: Vasubandhu's Summary of the Five Heaps and Sthiramati's commentary on Vasubandhu's root text. These works present the traditional Buddhist analysis of ordinary experience… Read More

The dramatic practice of chöd, in which the yogin visualizes giving his or her own sacrificed body to the gods and demons as a way to cut the attachment to self and ordinary reality, offers an intense and direct… Read More

This extraordinarily clear exposition on the wisdom section of the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life is based on an oral teaching given in Switzerland by HH the Dalai Lama before an audience of thousands of Tibetans and Westerners… Read More

The Nyungne Method of Thousand-Armed Chenrezig

The Tibetan Buddhist practice of Nyungne (“nyoong-nay”) has been gaining increased attention in Buddhist centers across North America. Participants say the practice purifies them both physically and spiritually. This volume is the only comprehensive treatment in English of these powerful… Read More

A Guide to the Guhyagarbha Tantra

Luminous Essence is a complete introduction to the world of tantric thought and practice. Composed by the renowned Tibetan master Jamgön Mipham (1846–1912), the text provides an overview of the theory and experiential assimilation of a seminal tantric scripture, the… Read More

Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless Absorptions

Study and Practice of Meditation gives a vivid and detailed account of the meditative practices necessary to develop a calm, alert mind that is capable of penetrating the depths of reality. The Buddhist meditative states known as the concentrations… Read More

Buddhist Tenets

How to Read Classical Tibetan, Volume Two: Buddhist Tenets continues Craig Preston's groundbreaking series of self-study materials designed for students learning to read Classical Tibetan on their own. This book serves a dual purpose: the student learns both grammar… Read More

Deity yoga is the meditative practice of imagining oneself as an ideal being, fully endowed with compassion, wisdom, and their resultant altruistic activities. The idea is that by imagining being a Buddha one gets closer to actually achieving Buddhahood. Tantric… Read More

Mahamudra, the highest level of teaching within Tibetan Buddhism, rewards study and practice with the realization of the very nature of mind itself. There is not a single experience which is not subsumed within the realizations of Mahamudra. On his… Read More

Teachings on the Practice of Guru Yoga

Guru yoga is the force that gives vitality to a serious practitioner's meditation. Combining the essential aspects of the sutra path with the profound tantric techniques that activate the latent spiritual forces within us, it lays the framework of… Read More

Essays on the Kalacakra Tantra in Honor of H.H. the Dalai Lama

The Kalacakra Tantra (Kalacakra means "wheel of time") is a tradition of Buddhist theory and practice whose root text treats a fantastic expanse of knowledge ranging from observations of the cosmos to investigations of meditative states and vital bodily… Read More